Two former Parramatta Eels players are accused of harbouring semi-automatic weapons and possessing more than half-a-million dollars in cash after dramatic arrests in Sydney's Centennial Park yesterday.

Trapeze artist suffers sickening fall from 'pendulum of death'

A Mexican trapeze artist who suffered a terrible fall from a contraption called the "pendulum of death" during a performance in Chile is counting his lucky stars the diabolical machine didn't live up to its name.

Several cameras caught the fall, which happened when the Jumbo Circus performer appeared to misstep while trying to stay upright by using a hamster-wheel technique as the pendulum spun.

The artist falls head first from a height of at least two metres and appears to be knocked out instantly, his body bouncing like a rag doll on the stage.

Black-clad staff immediately rush to his aid, as does his partner, who leaps out of the accursed pendulum and kneels over his mate's body, clearly gravely worried.

But his fears were allayed soon enough – the performer, though hospitalised, has been given the all-clear.

"He’s okay. Nothing broken, just a bit shaken up. Now routine tests," tweeted one of his colleagues, who is a clown.